


A New Library - A glimpse into Growing Up

by peacehopeandrats



Series: Growing Up [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen, Missing Years, Travel, Writer's Block Prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:07:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22166875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacehopeandrats/pseuds/peacehopeandrats
Summary: Just another quick glimpse into the Growing Up Series.TimingThis series fills in all the space between Gideon's first birthday and Belle's death.Quick SummaryA young Gideon is setting up his first library and it turns out he is a master at making book recommendations.This is just a little snip of something that will go into my Growing Up series, posted in response to a prompt for the Writer's Block. (prompt info in notes)
Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold
Series: Growing Up [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1035851
Kudos: 2





	A New Library - A glimpse into Growing Up

**Author's Note:**

> Obligatory "posting fanfiction makes me uncomfortable" remarks  
> Being my first independent series, I feel this stumbles along a little.  
> I don't like magic.  
> I can't do magic.  
> And I'm rubbish at explaining what I don't know about.  
> I wanted to explore the Gold family's adventures, so I did.  
> And yes, the title was a play on words.
> 
> The website for the prompt is here  
> https://writersblock378601501.wordpress.com/blog/  
> The challenge is to write a story that begins with whatever line is provided. The site accepts any type of fiction, including fanfiction.  
> March's prompt was  
> The floor was covered in…

The floor was covered in papers and books, all scattered haphazardly from wall to wall as if they had been thrown about by a tempest. In the center of this literary ocean sat Gideon, pencil in hand, carefully writing out large words in his clumsy but legible three-year-old hand. Now and then the boy tapped the end of the pencil to his mouth as he thought before making another try at a word whose spelling he was unsure of then finally making a choice and committing it to paper. He was halfway finished with the word “histore” when his father appeared in the doorway.

When Rumplestiltskin saw the disaster, he smiled. “What _are_ you doing, son?”

Gideon turned his way, flinging an arm out at the empty bookshelf in the corner. “Fixing my library,” he said with pride. “I want it to be just like the real ones.” His mind drifted back to the library they had visited that morning and swooned at the idea of doing things exactly as they were meant to be done.

His papa chuckled and tiptoed around the disaster, careful to place a foot only where there was a bare spot of floor of significant enough size. They both knew that Belle would have a fit if she saw either of them so much as lean on a book, but to step on one would be the worst act imaginable. Rumplestiltskin twisted and stretched himself several times as he crossed the room until he was able to sit on Gideon's bed, where he let out a sigh of relief as he surveyed the disaster around him. “And this is 'fixed'?”

“Oh no!” Gideon laughed. “A good library makes it easy to find what you want.” His mother always commented on the libraries they visited in their travels and often said this while they were inside. Some of the places had been big, some had been small, but the ones she liked most were always the ones that kept their books well sorted. “Everything has to go together,” he insisted, “I have to take it all out, write what it is, then put it all back under the signs.” 

Picking up a piece of paper where Gideon had written “sinanse” and crossed it out for another try that read “sianse," Rumplestiltskin smiled, his eyes sparkling in that way they did when he was happy. “You're doing a lot of work, then.” 

Gideon knew the word still wasn't right, but his Papa didn't correct him, just put the paper down on top of a stack of science books so that he could copy the word off one of the covers later. The boy finished writing the sign for the history section, then put down his pencil. “Papa?”

“Hm?” His father looked over, waiting for the question he knew would come.

“Why did the woman in the library tell me I was so little to be writing?”

Rumple let out a long breath and sat back on the bed. “She isn't used to seeing a boy whose parents teach him to do something _just_ when he's ready to learn it,” he explained. “In this realm most parents send their children to schools and those schools teach them all the same lesson at the same time, even if they aren't ready to learn it.” He reached out to ruffle Gideon's hair as the boy's eyes widened with surprise at the idea of learning before you were ready, or not being able to learn fast enough. “People of this realm aren't used to seeing a boy your age read or make his letters.”

“Did you go to school to read?” Gideon watched his papa's eyes change from bright pools of joy to sad ponds of hurtful memories and he worried that he had hurt him. 

“I was much older when I learned about reading and writing,” his papa told him, “but that doesn't mean you have to wait like I did.”

Gideon thought for a little while, looking down at the books around him and moving some into piles that would eventually return to the shelf. Once done, he had more room to move and turned to better face his father. “Is that why you don't read?”

Rumplestiltskin blinked. “I can read,” he protested as he reached out to tweak the end of Gideon's nose. “I learned how when I got my magic.”

“But you _don't_ read,” Gideon insisted. 

“I listen when your mum reads to us,” Rumple reminded him.

Gideon shook his head. “That's listening. It's different” A thought hit him that almost made water push up and out of his eyes. He and his mother filled their rooms with books, they were always asking to go to bookstores and libraries, and his papa always agreed, but what if he didn't want to? What if... “Papa,” Gideon's voice became a tremble in his worry, “do you hate books?”

Rumple leaned down quickly and drew his son up into his lap, holding him as tightly as he could. “Oh no. No, no, Gideon. Of course I don't.” He rocked gently from side to side, stroking Gideon's hair and kissing the top of his head. “I could never hate something that you and your mother love so much,” he whispered the words before letting go enough to allow a little distance between them. “I think the difference between you and me is that you have your mum here to read to you, but when I was your age, there wasn't anyone to do the same for me.”

Gideon blinked moisture from his eyes, confusion replacing his worries. “No one?”

“No one,” his papa confirmed gently, wiping a tear from Gideon's cheek with his thumb. “Not until your mother came to live with me and showed me that books had a kind of magic on their own.”

The idea of his mother reading to his papa brought a smile to Gideon's face. There was little in the world that he loved as much as seeing his parents happy and they were always happiest when they looked at each other and made those smiles that usually meant they were getting sleepy enough to need a nap. “I think mother would be happy if you learned to read like we do,” he said cheerily, knowing that anything that made his mother happy was something his papa would want to do. “I can teach you.”

Rumplestiltskin chuckled. “Teach me to like reading...” His eyes glanced skyward as if he were thinking. “You really think she would like that?”

Gideon nodded so hard that he almost bashed his head into Rumple's chin. “I know it!” He scrambled down to the floor where he had been sitting and gazed up at his papa critically for a long time. For his part, Rumplestiltskin sat patiently, though his eyebrows raised after a while in silent query. “I know what you need,” Gideon finally announced. He pulled himself into a crab-like stance and began maneuvering around the room like an oddly formed spider, hands and feet turning in all manner of directions to avoid knocking over stacks of books or stepping on papers. He hurried to one stack, picked up three books from it, then made his way back again. Plopping himself into his central work space, he handed one over. “This one.”

“Well...” His papa flipped through the pages, looking at the illustrations and words critically, even though it was a story he had heard Belle read many times before. “I think I could probably learn with something a little harder,” he said finally, his words becoming a tease.

“Mother says start with something easy and every day make it just a little harder. That's the best way,” Gideon reminded him.

“Yes, but I do already know how to read, you know,” Rumplestiltskin teased again. “If you are going to teach me to like reading, I think I could read something a little bit longer. Make myself work a little bit.”

Looking between the other two titles in his lap, Gideon finally decided on the thicker one, a chapter book of only just over one hundred pages. It was one of his favorites full of adventure, and with a mystery to solve at the end as well. His papa liked to travel and used to work out everyone's mysteries, so Gideon was certain it would be a story his father would like to read once he got started. Besides, there was someone in the book he was certain his father would like right away. “This one,” he insisted, thrusting the book out with certainty. 

Rumplestiltskin studied the cover and pages just as he did the first story, then nodded, pulling the cover to his chest and hugging it there gently. “If you have chosen it for me, then I must try it and see,” he said formally, making Gideon laugh.

The boy stood up and peered into his papa's eyes. “Don't worry,” he whispered. “My teaching you will be a secret.” This brought the real smile back to his papa's face and his eyes became soft again.

The moment was interrupted by a knock on the door frame. “Gideon...” Belle's words were full of confusion, but also lifted and fell like she found something funny. “What is all of this?”

“I'm fixing my library,” he said proudly.

Belle crossed her hands over her chest and looked at Rumplestiltskin. “Ten minutes before bedtime and you're letting him do this?” Even though she was scolding them, she was smiling.

“We'll clean it up,” his papa insisted, reaching for some of the papers at his feet and flipping through them with sudden determination. Gideon smiled and scrambled to start putting the books back on the shelves until his mother had gone, then looked back at his papa just in time to catch him tucking the adventure book into his vest with a wink.

* * *

Belle's breathing had finally settled into a slow rhythm, her body shifting gently as her lungs filled with air, then released it again with an occasional snore to break through the quiet of the evening. Rumple couldn't help but smile and pull her closer against his body. He could never hold her enough or be close enough in these moments they shared after Gideon's bedtime, but tonight he had another motive for the shift in position.

Taking great care not to wake Belle, Rumple reached to flick on the lamp, making certain that the shadow of his arm lingered long enough across his wife's face that the sudden change in light wouldn't be too jarring. Once he was certain she was still sleeping, he slowly reached into the gap between the mattress and headboard, pulling out the book he had hidden away only hours before. With one hand still wrapped around Belle, he fumbled with the object until he had managed to rest it on his chest and open to the first page. 

Slowly Rumple's eyes crept along the words, taking them in one at a time as he began his journey through the joys of fiction. At first, Gideon's insistence on this particular title had been a mystery, but by the second page he had reached a section that made his heart skip in his chest.

_The girl's eyes were as blue as the clear sky above them and her dark hair flashed in the sun with just a hint of red if you looked the right way. Whenever anyone asked where the red had come from, her father had always told them, “My daughter has so much fire in her heart that it overflows right to her head.”_

Beside him, Belle shifted and Rumple froze, realizing too late that while he had been reading, his fingers had begun idly combing though her hair. He willed himself into motionlessness before turning his eyes back to the page, forced to admit that his son knew his heart all too well.


End file.
